Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Marlborough’s subject grades are an A for safety and the outdoors and an A− for civic life; the weakest is a D for schools. Marlborough’s average trip to work is 21 minutes, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 2 of the 127 New Hampshire towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Marlborough. 22% of the land in Marlborough is conserved, where New Hampshire’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest place to walk is Kensan-Devan Wildlife Sanctuary, 545 acres with 2.1 miles of trail. Marlborough has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Marlborough beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 786 in 1790, a low of 766 in 1820, 2,096 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1898 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Marlborough is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marlborough, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 19, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Marlborough.
Its public schools are run by the Marlborough School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 164 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
The property crime rate in Marlborough is 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Marlborough | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Marlborough beats the New Hampshire average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 76% of Marlborough adults had a checkup this year.
| Marlborough | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 78% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 30% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Marlborough | NH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.9% | 6.2% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 3.7% | 3.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Marlborough for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Marlborough fell to 342 in 2023, 108 fewer than in 2013. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Marlborough.
| Marlborough | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (21% statewide); children under 18 are 24% of residents (18% statewide). Marlborough has grown 5.4% since 2020, to 2,201 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Marlborough’s median age is 46 years.
| Marlborough | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 46 years | 44.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 39% | 29% |
56% women, 44% men
About 78 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.5 points). Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Marlborough | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.7% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.8% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.9% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.7% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.5% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.9% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.3% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.1% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.2% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.8% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.7% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kensan-Devan Wildlife Sanctuary | 2.1 mi | 545 |
| 2. Monadnock Reservation | 0.3 mi | 150 |
| 3. Devan Preserve | 0.1 mi | 411 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Marlborough home is worth about $375,000, up 2.2% in a year, 27% below the New Hampshire typical home.
| Marlborough | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 68% | 82% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,133 a month | $1,388 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 72% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Marlborough has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 12° and about 73 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Marlborough. Close and well known come first.
4 mi MountainMount Monadnock
37 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
38 mi Ski areaMount Snow119 runs · 1,648 ft vertical
40 mi Ski areaStratton Mountain Resort106 runs · 1,899 ft vertical
39 mi MuseumEmily Dickinson Museum
37 mi Stadium & arenaSNHU ArenaMount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Mount Snow: William J Sisti from Morristown, NJ, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stratton Mountain Resort: Rudi Riet from Washington, DC, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Emily Dickinson Museum: Daderot, Public domain · SNHU Arena: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Marlborough
About 2 of every 100 Marlborough residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
Where Marlborough’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Marlborough is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,096 at the 2020 census. The town is home to the Kensan-Devan Wildlife Sanctuary at Meetinghouse Pond. The primary settlement in town, where 1,066 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Marlborough census-designated place (CDP) and is located at the junction of New Hampshire routes 101 and 124.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Marlborough.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough | — | — | C | A | D | A− |
| Troy | — | — | C+ | — | C− | A− |
| Swanzey | #114 | C− | C− | B | C− | B+ |
| Roxbury | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dublin | — | — | C− | — | B− | A |
| Harrisville | — | — | C− | — | B− | A |
| Jaffrey | #56 | B+ | B− | B | C+ | A |
| Keene | #103 | C | C− | C | C | A |
Marlborough, Troy, Dublin and Harrisville have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Troy, Dublin and Harrisville report no FBI crime data of their own. Roxbury isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Marlborough with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.5 years of the area's median household income ($83,329 across the Keene, NH area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
2 notable people were born here, including Rufus Smith Frost and Fred Tenney.
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